The Mawson Trail

A week ago, I reported about Mark, who rode his velomobile from Perth to Sydney, via Melbourne, about 5,000km, in autumn 2023:

https://bkhome.org/news/202312/velomobile-across-the-continent-twice.html

A velomobile is a recumbent bicycle, trike or quad, inside a shell.

Today I watched a YouTube video from a guy who is riding a mountain bike on the Mawson Trail in South Australia, heading south toward Adelaide. To show where the Mawson Trail is, if I had to get there from Perth, would first have to go to Port Augusta:

...25 hours, driving non-stop at the speed limit! The highway from Perth is the Great Eastern Highway, and following along the south coast it is the Eyre Highway.

The Mawson Trail runs roughly north from Adelaide, ending at Blinman, a distance of 900km:

This video I watched today, his name is Steve, is episode 3 of his journey south on the Mawson Trail. The video ends at Hallett, and he posted the video only 2 days ago:

"E Bike Touring the Mawson Trail – South Australia - Will The Torture Never End? Eps 3"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNkl4lc9quE

About 17 minutes into the video, he met a couple of recumbent trike riders:

...interesting, they have electric motors, as does Steve's mountain bike. Full suspension is recommended on the Mawson Trail, but those trikes don't look like they have front suspension; can't tell about the rear wheel. They will be feeling the bumps! Note, their faces look dark, as they are wearing insect screens.

Here is a page introducing the Mawson Trail:

https://cycletrailsaustralia.com/2_trails/mawson-trail-sa

That would be a very interesting ride; Perth to Port Augusta, cut across to Quorn, follow the Mawson Trail up to Blinman, then go north-north-west to Alice Springs, right in the centre of Australia. Then take the inland highway west, the Great Central Road, back to Perth:

...now that would be an adventure! Mostly unpaved, and permits are required to travel through Aboriginal land. The only other way to return to Perth on entirely paved road, apart from going back along the south coast, is to go north from Alice Springs, then follow the coast westward then down the Great Northern Highway.   

Tags: nomad